Released around the same time that “Joker” takes place, “The King of Comedy” stars De Niro as psychopathic comic Rupert Pupkin, a man obsessed with a popular TV host (Jerry Lewis). Amy Coney Barrett’s opposition to Obamacare, explained. on Why Do We Need Joker When We Already Have The King of Comedy? “But it’s not as a direct connection as the character I’m playing being Rupert many years later as a host.”, Nevertheless, De Niro said he would have been up for reprising the character in more explicit terms. But just because Joker succeeds in looking like these films, it doesn't mean that Phillips also managed to convey their original meaning. And both hang the people who idolize them out to dry. Travis Bickle, was of course, a misunderstood character in cinema who existed in a very different time and place, and whose portrayal has vastly different connotations in 2019. Stay tuned for more from De Niro and Rosenthal ahead of the 2019 Tribeca Film Film Festival, which runs April 24 – May 5. All three men were in their early 30s, near Bickle’s age, early in their careers, and the pathology that simmers under Bickle’s surface seems borne of something uncomfortably familiar. Schrader even used it just last year in his fantastic Ethan Hawke-starring film, First Reformed. It’s an ingenious bit of a rug-pulling and tees up the second half which teeters into more aggressive stalking. The image of the protagonist's notebook, which is also routinely shown in Taxi Driver, is a Robert Bresson-inspired Scorsese trademark, an unmistakable point of reference that both Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader would return to throughout their careers. Will Arthur Fleck be rewarded, winning the fame and respect he desires just like Rupert in The King of Comedy? They sunk in. Copyright © 2020 Penske Business Media, LLC. Thereâs no such âmetamorphosisâ in The King of Comedy. (The pair had made New York, New York and Raging Bull in the interim.) In his fantasy life, he imagines a future where he and the host are not only close friends but colleagues. Whether Langford actually meant what he said remains to be seen, but for a moment they seem to be on good terms. Phillips's concept for Joker seems to be something of a spiritual successor to King of Comedy. Change ). “They’re trying to really make it the best it’s ever been,” De Niro said. You will be redirected back to your article in, Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. It’s Jerry Lewis (the comedy actor), not Jerry Lee Lewis (the rock & roll musician). With both films, critics worried how audiences would act out violently once they’d seen these characters transformed into folk heroes. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. Phillips's film has a grainy, brown-red-yellow color palette. However, the film never rises to the level of letting us believe they actually mean Langford physical harm. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. It shouldn’t win Best Picture. “By kill, I don’t mean kill physically, but you can kill the spirit, you can kill relationships, you can kill everything else around you in your life.” – Martin Scorsese: A Retrospective. Marvel Studios and others have made an art out of grafting a comic book narrative on top of a recognizable film genre. Shot in long, still compositions without any of Scorsese's trademark handheld photography, King of Comedy was misunderstood in its time. Chip in as little as $3 to help keep it free for everyone. Captain America: The First Avenger did it with the WWII movie, Winter Soldier aped 70s conspiracy thrillers, and Logan took on aging-gunslinger westerns like Unforgiven. Though comparisons are fair and even intentional, the true test will be how Joker ends its story. There is no mask or alter ego (or in the Jokerâs case, clown make-up) to solidify his transformation. Phillips's concept for Joker seems to be something of a spiritual successor to King of Comedy. Note: The following includes spoilers for the films Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, and Joker. “Joker is a hyper-familiar origin story so indebted to Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy that Martin Scorsese probably deserves an executive producer credit.”, That is the second sentence in IndieWire critic David Ehrlich’s already widely-quoted review for Todd Phillip’s Joker. De Niroâs Rupert Pupkin is no Woody Allen, but he claims to be good friends with him. Anticipation is high for “Joker,” Todd Phillips’ grim take on the DC Comics super villain with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role, in part because Phoenix’s take on the character seems to have more in common with Martin Scorsese crime movies than anything in recent superhero cinema. At the time that Ehrlich was using phrases like “directed by a glorified… How to watch Trump and Biden’s dueling town halls on Thursday. According to Todd Phillips’ Total Film: September 2019 interview, Scorsese was never officially involved in any way. In 1982, she survived a stalker’s knive-attack thanks to a brave passer-by, heart-lung surgery, and 26 pints of blood. It's going to be interesting to see the other elements from The King of Comedy make it into the final cut and whether or not Todd Phillips goes all in or just subtle nods. Pupkin and his equally obsessed friend Masha (Sandra Bernhard) concoct and then conduct a kidnapping to make their dreams come true. The King of Comedy, on the other hand, is somewhat more obscure. Scorsese has repeatedly employed pricey VFX to de-age his cast. Fleck's mother, like Pupkin's, is oppressive and disapproving–but also stands as the one tether to reality that the protagonist has in the film. Ironically, Joker is closer to a love letter to Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy than it is a serious character study. There’s a little Dog Day Afternoon in it. Both movies take their power from how they toy with us, never telegraphing to us whether or not we’re supposed to feel this, and then showing us by the end, definitively, that the people who elevate Travis Bickle or Rupert Pupkin to the status of hero are fools. All rights reserved. Joaquin Phoenix Offered $50M to Return for 2 Joker Sequels? At times, Joker seems to be closer to Martin Scorsese's 1983 film The King of Comedy than it does Taxi Driver. In his desperation, he kidnaps a late-night comedy host named Jerry Langford to force the show to put Rupert on live-television. “What I’ve seen looks really good.”, De Niro has some prior experience with de-aging in the 2013 boxing movie “Grudge Match,” but the technology was less sophisticated and required the actors to wear intrusive head gear for the CGI to work. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. “Marty was concerned, rightly so, that we should not have things on us that would be distracting. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. This fan-celebrity relationship, of course, is something De Niro would later revisit in Tony Scott’s 1996 film The Fan, suggesting this is a longstanding fascination of his. Fleck even hangs out in a working-class locker room full of other loners and Times Square-types. In the movie, De Niro stars as hit man and union leader Frank Sheeran, and his character — along with those played by Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, and others — age across several decades. “How can I get rid of this guy?” a frustrated Langford seems to be thinking. All three of these movies coax us to watch a guy crack up, turn violent, and then become a folk hero.
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